James K. Vardaman

James Kimble Vardaman (26 July 1861-35 June 1930) was Governor of Mississippi from 19 January 1904 to 21 January 1908, succeeding Andrew H. Longino and preceding Edmond Noel, as well as Senator from Mississippi from 4 March 1913 to 3 March 1919, succeeding Le Roy Percy and preceding Byron P. Harrison.

Biography
James Kimble Vardaman was born in Jackson County, Texas on 26 July 1861, and he became a lawyer and newspaper editor in the Mississippi town  of Greenwood. Vardaman was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1890 as a member of the US Democratic Party, and he appealed to the common man with his populist views. Valderman served in the US Army during the Spanish-American War, fighting in Puerto Rico as a Major. In 1903, he was elected Governor of Mississippi as a Democrat, and he gained the support of local "rednecks", who wore red neckerchiefs to rallies and picnics. Vardaman was a known racist, criticizing Theodore Roosevelt as a cross-cultural man and saying that the education of African-Americans made them into insolent cooks and ruined their ability to do field work. In 1912, Vardaman was elected to the Senate, serving until 1919. In 1922, he was defeated during another Senate run. He died in Birmingham in 1930 at the age of 68.